JP2007144851A - Image-forming apparatus, printing system, method for forming image, and medium to be recorded - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image-forming apparatus, a printing system, a method for forming image, and a medium to be recorded by which the printing of the same characters including fonts can be easily performed by using the printing medium with a non-contacting type tag. <P>SOLUTION: Font information corresponding to the fonts and a character size of each character is written into the tag 3a along with the text information of each character when the character 3b is printed in various fonts, character sizes, and font types in a sheet of paper 3 as the medium to be recorded as shown in (B). The same character 3b including the font can be printed on the other sheet of paper based on the data written in the tag 3a when putting the tag 3a of the sheet of paper 3 to the tag reader arranged in a printer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that performs printing on a recording medium, a printing system that includes the image forming apparatus and an external device, an image forming method that performs printing on a recording medium, and a recording medium on which the printing is performed. Specifically, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a printing system, an image forming method, and a recording medium that can handle a recording medium provided with a non-contact type tag.

In recent years, it has been considered that an RFID (radio frequency identification) tag capable of reading information by radio waves is integrally formed with a product label printed with a barcode or the like. In view of this, an image forming apparatus capable of continuously executing printing on a label and writing of data on an RFID tag has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-96814 A

  In the image forming apparatus, data representing the same content as the content printed on the label can be written to the RFID tag, but font data when characters are printed on the label cannot be written to the RFID tag. For this reason, when printing similar characters including fonts, it is necessary to search for the original data sent to the image forming apparatus.

  Although the above technique is not limited to printing on labels, it can be used for general documents. However, in the case of general documents, there is an increasing demand for printing similar characters including fonts. However, for example, when you want to carry a document with you on the go, you can carry the document data including fonts on a storage medium (for example, a flexible disk, a removable disk, a flash memory, etc.) The original document data needs to be sent from the personal computer via Accordingly, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus, a printing system, and an image that can easily print similar characters including fonts by using a recording medium having a non-contact type tag such as an RFID tag. It was made for the purpose of providing a forming method and a recording medium.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus of the present invention includes an image reading device that reads data from a non-contact type tag provided on a recording medium, and a printing unit that performs printing on the recording medium. In the forming apparatus, character data representing characters printed on a recording medium provided with the non-contact type tag and font data representing a font of the character are written in the non-contact type tag. In this case, the printing unit performs printing based on the character data and the font data read by the reading unit.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the character data representing the characters printed on the recording medium and the font representing the font of the characters on the non-contact type tag provided on the recording medium When data is written, the reading unit reads the character data and font data, and the printing unit performs printing based on the read character data and font data. For this reason, the characters and fonts printed on the sample recording medium with the above non-contact tag can be included without sending data from a personal computer or carrying the data on a disk or the like. Similar characters can be easily printed on other recording media.

  The image forming apparatus according to the invention further includes password input means for a user to input a password, and the contactless tag includes password data representing a password in addition to the character data and the font data. Is read, the reading unit reads the password data together with the character data and the font data, and a password corresponding to the password data read by the reading unit is input via the password input unit. When this is done, the printing means may perform the printing. In this case, since the above-described printing is not performed unless a password is input via the password input means, the confidentiality of information can be improved.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a writing unit that writes data to a non-contact type tag provided on the recording medium, and a printing unit that performs printing on the recording medium provided with the non-contact type tag. The printing unit performs the printing based on character data representing characters to be printed on a recording medium and font data representing a font of the characters, and the writing unit includes: The character data and the font data may be written in a non-contact type tag provided on a recording medium on which the printing is performed by the printing unit.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the printing unit applies the character data representing the character to be printed on the recording medium and the font data representing the font of the character to the recording medium. Perform printing. The writing means writes the character data and the font data into a non-contact tag provided on a recording medium on which the printing is performed by the printing means. Therefore, the character data and font data used when printing on the recording medium can be written in the non-contact type tag provided on the recording medium. Therefore, if data is read from the non-contact type tag, the sample recording medium provided with the non-contact type tag can be used without sending the data from a personal computer or carrying the data in a disk or the like. The printed characters and the same characters including the font can be easily printed on other recording media.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system including the image forming apparatus and an external device provided so that data can be transmitted to the image forming apparatus. And a transmission means for transmitting the font data to the image forming apparatus.

  In the printing system of the present invention configured as described above, character data and font data are transmitted from the external device, and the image forming apparatus performs printing on a recording medium based on the character data and font data. At the same time, the character data and font data can be written into a non-contact type tag provided on the recording medium. For this reason, characters and fonts printed on the sample recording medium with the non-contact tag can be used without transmitting data from the external device or carrying the data on a disk or the like. Including the same character can be easily printed on other recording media.

  In the printing system of the present invention, the external device further includes password input means for a user to input a password, and when the password is input by the password input means, the transmission means Password data representing the password may be transmitted together with the data and the font data, and the writing means may write the password data together with the character data and the font data into the contactless tag. In this case, since the password data is written to the non-contact type tag together with the character data and the font data, the password data is used in an appropriate method to improve confidentiality, for example, as in the image forming apparatus described above. Can be made.

  The image forming method of the present invention is an image forming method comprising: a reading process for reading data from a non-contact type tag provided on a recording medium; and a printing process for performing printing on the recording medium, When character data representing characters printed on a recording medium provided with the non-contact type tag and font data representing the font of the character are written in the non-contact type tag, The printing is performed based on the character data and the font data read in the reading process.

  In the image forming method of the present invention configured as described above, the character data representing the characters printed on the recording medium and the font representing the font of the characters on the non-contact type tag provided on the recording medium When data is written, the character data and font data can be read by reading processing, and printing can be performed by printing processing based on the read character data and font data. For this reason, the characters and fonts printed on the sample recording medium with the above non-contact tag can be included without sending data from a personal computer or carrying the data on a disk or the like. Similar characters can be easily printed on other recording media.

  The image forming method of the present invention includes a writing process for writing data to a non-contact type tag provided on the recording medium, and a printing process for performing printing on the recording medium provided with the non-contact type tag. In the printing process, the printing process performs the printing based on the character data representing the character to be printed on the recording medium and the font data representing the font of the character. In the writing process, The character data and the font data may be written in a non-contact type tag provided on a recording medium on which the printing is performed by the printing process.

  In the image forming method of the present invention configured as described above, in the printing process, on the recording medium based on the character data representing the character to be printed on the recording medium and the font data representing the font of the character. Perform printing. In the writing process, the character data and the font data are written in a non-contact type tag provided on a recording medium on which the printing is performed by the printing process. Therefore, the character data and font data used when printing on the recording medium can be written in the non-contact type tag provided on the recording medium. Therefore, if data is read from the non-contact type tag, the sample recording medium provided with the non-contact type tag can be used without transmitting the data from a personal computer or carrying the data in a disk or the like. The printed characters and the same characters including the font can be easily printed on other recording media.

  The recording medium of the present invention is a recording medium on which characters are printed, and is a non-contact type tag in which character data representing the printed characters and font data representing the font of the characters are written. However, it is characterized by being provided.

  The recording medium of the present invention configured as described above includes characters and fonts printed on the recording medium by performing printing based on the character data and font data written on the non-contact type tag. Thus, it is possible to easily print the same characters on other recording media.

  In the recording medium of the present invention, password data representing a password may be written to the contactless tag together with the character data and the font data. In this case, confidentiality can be improved by using the written password data by an appropriate method.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to examples. Needless to say, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the following examples, and can take various forms as long as they belong to the technical scope of the present invention. First, FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a printer 1 as an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the printer 1.

[Description of Configuration of Printer 1]
As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 of this embodiment forms an image on a feeder unit 4 for feeding paper 3, a multipurpose tray 14, and the fed paper 3 in a main body case 2. The process unit 18 and the fixing device 19 are provided. The printer 1 is configured such that an optional tray 41 can be added as an option below the feeder unit 4. Hereinafter, in the printer 1, the side (left side in FIG. 1) where the multipurpose tray 14 is attached to the main body case 2 is referred to as “front part”, and the multipurpose tray 14 is also attached to the main body case 2. The side opposite to the side is the “rear part”.

[Description of configuration of feeder unit 4]
As shown in FIG. 1, the feeder unit 4 includes a main body paper feed tray 6 that is detachably attached to the bottom of the main body case 2, a paper pressing plate 8 provided in the main body paper feed tray 6, A sheet feeding roller (hereinafter referred to as a main body sheet feeding roller) 12 and a separation pad 13 are provided above one end of the sheet feeding tray 6. Between the main body paper supply roller 12 and the image forming position P (the contact portion between the photosensitive drum 23 and the transfer roller 25, that is, the transfer position at which the toner image on the photosensitive drum 23 is transferred to the paper 3). The conveyance path 7 formed in a curved shape is arranged.

  The sheet pressing plate 8 is capable of holding the sheets 3 in a laminated form, and is supported so as to be swingable at the end far from the main body feed roller 12, so that the near end is in the vertical direction. It is configured to be movable, and is biased upward by a spring 8a from the back side. The separation pad 13 is disposed so as to face the main body paper feed roller 12, and a pad 13a made of a member having a large friction coefficient is pressed toward the main body paper feed roller 12 by a spring 13b.

  On the other hand, the conveyance path 7 is formed in a curved shape by arranging a pair of guide plates 7 a and 7 b that guide the wide surface of the paper 3. Further, in this conveyance path 7, in order from the upstream side of the sheet conveyance, the main body sheet feeding roller 12, a pair of conveyance rollers 11 including a pair of driving rollers and driven rollers, and a pair of conveyances including a pair of driving rollers and driven rollers. A pair of registration rollers 9, which are arranged immediately before the roller 10 and the image forming position P and are composed of a pair of a driving roller and a driven roller, are arranged at appropriate intervals.

  In the feeder unit 4 configured as described above, the uppermost sheet 3 among the sheets 3 stacked on the sheet pressing plate 8 is pressed toward the main body feed roller 12, and the main body feed roller. After being sandwiched between the main body paper supply roller 12 and the separation pad 13 by the rotation of 12, the paper is fed one by one. The fed paper 3 is transported by the transport roller 11 and then sequentially sent to the transport roller 10 and the registration roller 9 so that the paper 3 is sent to the image forming position P after a predetermined registration.

[Description of Configuration of Multipurpose Tray 14]
A multi-purpose tray 14 for supplying paper 3 by manual feed or automatic paper feeding and a paper 3 stacked on the multi-purpose tray 14 are fed to the front side of the main body case 2 above the feeder unit 4. A multi-purpose-side paper feeding mechanism 15 for paper is provided. The multi-purpose-side paper feed mechanism 15 includes a multi-purpose-side paper feed roller 15a and a multi-purpose-side paper feed pad 15b, and a spring 15c disposed on the back side of the multi-purpose-side paper feed pad 15b provides a multi-purpose side paper feed roller 15a. The sheet feeding pad 15b is pressed toward the multipurpose sheet feeding roller 15a. In addition, the multi-purpose side paper feed mechanism 15 includes a pair of transport rollers 15d including a pair of a driving roller and a driven roller.

  In the multi-purpose tray 14 configured as described above, after the sheets 3 stacked on the multi-purpose tray 14 are sandwiched between the rotating multi-purpose side feed roller 15a and the multi-purpose side feed pad 15b. Each sheet is fed and sent to the registration roller 9 through a pair of conveying rollers 15d.

[Description of Configuration of Scanner Unit 17]
The scanner unit 17 is disposed on the lower surface side of the paper discharge tray 36 in the upper part of the main body case 2, and includes a laser light emitting unit (not shown), a polygon mirror 20 that is rotationally driven, lenses 21a and 21b, a reflecting mirror 22, and the like. The photosensitive drum 23 in the process unit 18 is made to pass or reflect a laser beam corresponding to the image data emitted from the laser emitting unit in the order of the polygon mirror 20, the lens 21a, the reflecting mirror 22, and the lens 21b. Irradiated on the surface of the substrate by high-speed scanning.

[Description of Configuration of Process Unit 18]
The process unit 18 includes a drum cartridge having a photosensitive drum 23 as an electrostatic latent image carrier, a scorotron charger 37, a transfer roller 25, and the like, and a developing cartridge 24 that is detachably attached to the drum cartridge. Has been. The developing cartridge 24 includes a toner container 26, a developing roller 27, a layer thickness regulating blade 28, a toner supply roller 29, and the like.

  The toner storage unit 26 is filled with a positively charged non-magnetic single-component polymerized toner as a developer, and the toner is supplied to the developing roller 27 by the toner supply roller 29. At this time, the toner supply roller 29 In addition, the toner charged positively between the developing roller 27 and the developing roller 27 and the toner supplied onto the developing roller 27 is thinned to a constant thickness by the sliding of the layer thickness regulating blade 28 as the developing roller 27 rotates. It is carried on the developing roller 27 as a layer. On the other hand, the rotating photosensitive drum 23 is arranged to face the developing roller 27, the drum body is grounded, and the surface thereof is a positively chargeable photosensitive layer composed of an organic photosensitive material such as polycarbonate. It is formed by.

  In the printer 1, the residual toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 23 after the toner image is transferred to the paper 3 by the transfer roller 25 is recovered by the developing roller 27, and the residual toner is recovered by a so-called cleanerless system. I am doing so. If the residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 23 is collected by such a cleaner-less method, it is not necessary to provide a cleaning device such as a blade or a storage unit for waste toner, so that the device configuration is simplified, reduced in size and cost. Can be reduced.

  The scorotron charger 37 is disposed above the photosensitive drum 23 at a predetermined interval so as not to contact the photosensitive drum 23. The scorotron charger 37 is a positively charged scorotron charger that generates corona discharge from a charging wire such as tungsten, and is configured to uniformly charge the surface of the photosensitive drum 23 to a positive polarity. ing.

  The surface of the photosensitive drum 23 is first uniformly charged positively by the scorotron charger 37 as the photosensitive drum 23 rotates, and then exposed by high-speed scanning of the laser beam from the scanner unit 17. Then, an electrostatic latent image based on the image data is formed.

  Next, the electrostatic charge formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 23 when the positively charged toner carried on the developing roller 27 comes into contact with the photosensitive drum 23 by the rotation of the developing roller 27. The latent image, that is, the surface of the photosensitive drum 23 that is uniformly positively charged, is supplied to an exposed portion that is exposed to a laser beam and the potential is lowered, and is visualized by being selectively carried. As a result, a toner image is achieved.

  The transfer roller 25 is disposed below the photosensitive drum 23 so as to face the photosensitive drum 23, and is supported by the drum cartridge so as to be rotatable in the clockwise direction in FIG. The transfer roller 25 is configured such that a metal roller shaft is covered with a roller made of an ion conductive rubber material, and at the time of transfer, a transfer bias (transfer forward bias) is applied from a transfer bias application power source. Has been. Therefore, the toner image carried on the surface of the photosensitive drum 23 is transferred to the paper 3 at the image forming position P described above while the paper 3 passes between the photosensitive drum 23 and the transfer roller 25. .

[Description of Configuration of Fixing Device 19]
As shown in FIG. 1, the fixing device 19 as a fixing unit is disposed downstream of the process unit 18 in the transport direction, and is disposed so as to press one heating roller 31 and the heating roller 31. The pressure roller 32 and a pair of conveying rollers 33 provided on the downstream side thereof are provided. The heating roller 31 is made of a metal such as aluminum and includes a heater such as a halogen lamp for heating. The toner transferred onto the sheet 3 in the process unit 18 is transferred to the sheet 3 by the heating roller 31 and the pressure roller 32. Heat-fixed while passing between. Thereafter, the paper 3 is transported by the transport roller 33 by the transport roller 34 and the paper discharge roller 35 in the rear paper discharge path in the main body case 2, and then discharged onto the paper discharge tray 36.

  Further, in the paper conveyance path between the heating roller 31 and the pressure roller 32 and the conveyance rollers 33 and 33, as shown in FIG. When a device provided with a tag 3a is used, a tag writer 38 capable of writing data to the tag 3a is provided. For this reason, when the paper 3 provided with the tag 3a is used, desired data can be written on the tag 3a of the paper 3 after image formation.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a tag reader 39 for reading data written on the tag 3a is provided on the upper surface on the front side of the main body case 2. Therefore, when the tag 3a provided on the paper 3 is held over the tag reader 39, data can be read from the tag 3a.

[Description of Configuration of Optional Tray 41]
The option tray 41 that can be added below the feeder unit 4 has an internal structure substantially the same as that of the feeder unit 4. That is, the optional tray 41 has an additional paper feed tray 46 that is detachably attached to the bottom thereof, and a paper pressing plate that is supported at the bottom of the additional paper feed tray 46 so as to be swingable and is biased by a spring 48a. 48, a paper feed roller (hereinafter referred to as an additional paper feed roller) 52 and a separation pad 53 provided above the other end of the paper pressing plate 48. The separation pad 53 is disposed to face the additional paper feed roller 52, and a pad 53a made of a member having a large friction coefficient is pressed toward the additional paper feed roller 52 by a spring 53b.

  Further, in the main body paper feed tray 6 mounted on the feeder unit 4, a path through which the paper 3 can pass in the vertical direction between the swing range of the paper pressing plate 8 and the front handle 6 a. 6b is formed. Further, a pair of conveying rollers 54 including a pair of a driving roller and a driven roller are disposed below the passage 6b. For this reason, when the main body paper feed tray 6 of the feeder unit 4 is disposed at a regular position (a position where the paper feed roller 12 can feed the paper 3 to the transport path 7), the optional tray 41 can be additionally supplied. The paper 3 fed one by one by the paper roller 52 is transported by the pair of transport rollers 54 and then sent to the transport path 7 by the transport roller 11 through the passage 6b. Further, a handle portion 46 a is also provided on the front side of the additional paper feed tray 46 in the same manner as the feeder portion 4.

[Description of Control System of Printer 1]
Next, the control system of the printer 1 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the printer 1 temporarily stores a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 61 that executes various calculations, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 62 that stores a control program, and various data. A random access memory (RAM) 63 is provided. Further, the CPU 61 is connected to an NVRAM 64 and a hard disk device (HDD) 65 which are not erased even if the power switch is turned off, and a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer) as an external device. A printer port interface (printer port I / F) 66 for connecting to the LAN 70, a LAN interface (LAN I / F) 67 for connecting to a LAN (not shown), operation keys 90 provided on the surface of the main body case 2, and a display panel 91 (see FIG. 2), the above-described tag writer 38 and tag reader 39, and various actuators (hereinafter collectively referred to as an image forming section 93) of the mechanism from the above-described paper feed rollers 12, 15a, 52 to the paper discharge roller 35. ) Is connected. As shown in FIG. 2, the operation key 90 is a well-known one having a plurality of arrow keys, an execution key, a cancel key, a numeric keypad, and the like.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the personal computer 70 also includes a CPU 71, a ROM 72, and a RAM 73. The CPU 71 is connected to a hard disk device (HDD) 74, an operation unit 75 such as a keyboard and a mouse, a display unit 76 such as a CRT, and the printer 1. A printer port interface (printer port I / F) 77 for connecting to the LAN and a LAN interface (LAN I / F) 78 for connecting to a LAN (not shown) are connected. The printer 1 and the personal computer 70 may be connected via the LAN interfaces 67 and 78.

[Description of print processing]
Next, the printing process executed by the control system will be described. First, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing executed by the personal computer 70. In this process, as shown in the screen display example illustrated in FIG. 6, a print is instructed after a document is created on the personal computer 70 by an application that can set the font name, character size, typeface, etc. along with the text of the body. Then, it is executed by the CPU 71.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the process is started, first, in S1 (S represents a step: the same applies below), the user is inquired through the display section 76 whether or not information is to be written into the tag 3a. Which is selected is determined. When the information is not written (S1: N), the process proceeds to S2, and the text information as character data corresponding to the text created by the application, the font name, the character size, the typeface, and the like are supported. Print data including font information as font data is created. In the subsequent S3, the print data is transmitted to the printer 1, and the processing in the personal computer 70 ends.

  On the other hand, when writing information into the tag 3a (S1: Y), in S5, the user is inquired through the display section 76 as to whether or not to set a password, and it is determined which one has been selected. When the password is set (S5: Y), in S6, a process for causing the user to input the password via the display unit 76 and the operation unit 75 is executed, and the process proceeds to S7. If no password is set (S5: N), the process directly proceeds from S5 to S7.

  In S7, the text information of the document created by the application is extracted. In subsequent S10, the user is inquired via the display section 76 whether or not the font information of the document is to be extracted, and it is determined which one has been selected. When the font information is extracted (S10: Y), the font information is extracted at S11. At S12, the text information and the font information (if the password is set, a password indicating the password is further set). Information to be written to the tag 3a including the data) is created, and then the process proceeds to S2.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of font information as information to be written to the tag 3a. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the font information may be configured as a table in which font names, character sizes, and fonts are associated with start positions and end positions, for example. The start position and end position are numerical values representing the number of characters from the beginning of the sentence.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing in detail the processing of S11. That is, when the font information is extracted by this processing (S10: Y), first, it is determined whether or not the font information is stored in another file in S111. If the font information is not stored in another file (S111). : N), font information in the text is extracted in S112. In subsequent S113, the extracted font information is converted into a format corresponding to the font information table, and in S114, the font information is stored in the font information table illustrated in FIG. 7, and the processing is performed in S12 (see FIG. 5). )

  On the other hand, if the font information is in a separate file (S111: Y), the font information of the separate file is converted into a format corresponding to the font information table in S117, and the font information is converted into the font information table in S118. After being saved, the process proceeds to S12 (see FIG. 5).

  Returning to FIG. 5, on the other hand, when the font information is not extracted (S10: N), in S13, the user is inquired through the display section 76 whether or not the font information is newly created. It is determined whether it has been selected. When creating font information (S13: Y), a process for causing the user to create font information via the display unit 76 and the operation unit 75 is executed in S14, and the process proceeds to S12 described above. In this case, font information corresponding to a font or the like different from the font or the like set by the application is information to be written to the tag 3a. If the font information is not created (S13: N), the process directly proceeds from S13 to S12. In this case, font information is not set as information to be written to the tag 3a.

  Next, FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing executed by the CPU 61 of the printer 1 when data is received from the personal computer 70. When the processing is started, first, in S20, processing for receiving data from the personal computer 70 is executed. In subsequent S21, it is determined whether or not the data to be written to the tag 3a is included in the data received in S20. If the data to be written to the tag 3a is not included (S21: N), the printing on the paper 3 is executed in accordance with the received data in S22, and the process ends.

  On the other hand, if the data to be written to the tag 3a is included (S21: Y), the data to be written to the tag 3a is extracted from the received data in S23. In subsequent S24, printing on the sheet 3 is executed based on the received data. In S25, the data to be written is written to the tag 3a via the tag writer 38, and the process is terminated.

  For this reason, when the paper 3 provided with the tag 3a is fed and the processing of S23 to S25 is executed, the print data corresponding to the characters printed on the paper 3 is written into the tag 3a. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, when the character 3b is printed on the paper 3 in various fonts, character sizes, and typefaces in the process of S24, the fonts, character sizes, etc. of the respective characters are processed in the process of S25. Is written in the tag 3a together with the text information of each character.

  Note that when the paper 3 with the tag 3a is set in either the main body paper feed tray 6 or the additional paper feed tray 46, and the general paper 3 without the tag 3a is set in the other tray, The processing in S22 and S24 may include tray selection processing so that the general paper 3 is fed in S22 and the paper 3 provided with the tag 3a in S24. If such control is adopted, although there is data to be written to the tag 3a, printing is performed on the general paper 3 and data cannot be written, or there is no data to be written to the tag 3a. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the printing on the expensive paper 3 provided with the tag 3a.

  Next, FIG. 10 is executed by the CPU 61 of the printer 1 when the user holds the paper 3 having the tag 3a over the tag reader 39 provided in the printer 1 and the tag reader 39 detects any RFID tag. It is a flowchart showing a process. It should be noted that when the special code is stored in the tag 3a and the CPU 61 detects this special code via the tag reader 39, the CPU 61 may be configured to execute the processing shown in FIG.

  When the process is started, first, in S30, it is determined whether or not a password is set for the tag data (that is, the presence or absence of the password data). When a password is set (S30: Y), a process for allowing the user to input the password via the display panel 91 and the operation key 90 is executed in S31, and in S32, the input password is a tag. It is determined whether or not it matches the password set in. For example, in S31, a screen as illustrated in FIG. 11A is displayed on the display panel 91, and it is determined whether or not the password input from the numeric keypad or the like matches the password set in the tag 3a. (S32).

  If the input password and the password set in the tag do not match (S32: N), the process ends as it is, and if they match (S32: Y), the process proceeds to the subsequent S33. If no password is set in the tag data (S30: N), the process directly proceeds from S30 to S33.

  In S33, it is determined whether the text information can be read from the tag. If the text information cannot be read (S33: N), the process ends. If the text information can be read (S33: Y), the text information is extracted in S34. In S35, it is determined whether the font information can be read from the tag. If the font information can be read (S35: Y), the font information is extracted in S36.

  In the subsequent S37, it is determined whether or not there is a font that is not incorporated in the ROM 62 or an external memory (not shown) in the font corresponding to the font information extracted in S36. If all the fonts corresponding to the font information are incorporated (S37: N), the process proceeds to S41, and print data is created by combining the text information extracted in S34 and the font information. In step S42, printing is executed, and the process ends.

  For this reason, when the character 3b is printed as illustrated in FIG. 3B and the paper 3 on which the text information and font information corresponding to the character 3b are written on the tag 3a is at the user's hand, the character 3b is used. The person simply holds the tag 3a of the paper 3 over the tag reader 39, and as long as the font is built in the printer 1 (S37: N), the same character 3b is transferred from the main body paper feed tray 6 or the additional paper feed tray 46. Printing can be performed on the newly fed paper 3 (S41, S42). Note that the processing in S42 may also include tray selection processing to feed the general paper 3 that does not include the tag 3a as described above.

  On the other hand, if there is a font that is not built in the printer 1 among the fonts corresponding to the font information extracted from the tag (S37: Y), whether or not to replace it with the built-in font in S43. The user is inquired via the display panel 91 to determine which one has been selected. This process is performed, for example, by displaying a screen illustrated in FIG. 11B on the display panel 91. If the font is to be replaced (S43: Y), in S44, a process for allowing the user to select which font to replace is selected via the display panel 91 and the operation key 90 is executed. To S41. Note that the process of S44 is performed, for example, by displaying a screen illustrated in FIG. 11C on the display panel 91. If the font is not replaced (S43: N), the setting is changed to use the default font in S45, and the process proceeds to S41 described above. As described above, for example, when at least a part of the fonts constituting the character 3b is not incorporated (S37: Y), the font can be replaced with the selected font or the default font for printing. .

  If the font information cannot be read from the tag (S35: N), in S46, the user is inquired through the display panel 91 whether to print, and it is determined which one has been selected. If printing is not to be performed (S46: N), the process is terminated as it is. If printing is to be performed (S46: Y), whether or not to select a printing font is determined via the display panel 91 in S47. To determine which one has been selected. If the print font is selected (S47: Y), the process proceeds to S44 described above, and if not selected (S47: N), the process proceeds to S45 described above. Thus, even when only text information is written in the tag (S35: N), printing can be performed using the selected font or the default font.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the character 3b is printed as illustrated in FIG. 3B, and there is only the paper 3 on which the text information and font information corresponding to the character 3b are written on the tag 3a. Even if data is not transmitted from a personal computer or carried with a disk or the like, the characters 3b of the paper 3 and the same characters including the font can be printed on the other paper 3. Moreover, since the characters 3b printed on the paper 3 and the data of the tag 3a provided on the paper 3 correspond to each other, it is possible to save time and trouble such as searching for a file as in the prior art. Further, if a password is set in the tag 3a, the above-mentioned printing is not performed unless the password is input, so that the confidentiality of information can be improved.

  In the above-described embodiment, the tag reader 39 serves as the reading means, the mechanism from the paper feed rollers 12, 15a, 52 to the paper discharge roller 35, and the processes of S24, S41, and S42 serve as the printing means, and the operation keys 90, The processing of the display panel 91 and S31 is the password input means of the image forming apparatus, the processing of the tag writer 38 and S23 and S25 is the writing means, the processing of the printer port interface 77 and S12, S2 and S3 is the transmission means, FIG. The sheet 3 exemplified in (A) is the recording medium, the processing of the display unit 76, the operating unit 75 and S6 is the password input means of the external device, the personal computer 70 and the printer 1 are the printing system, and the processing of S34 and S36. In the reading process, the processes in S24, S41, and S42 correspond to the printing process, and the processes in S23 and S25 correspond to the writing process, respectively. .

[Other Embodiments of the Invention]
In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the personal computer 70 and the printer 1 may be connected via the Internet. Further, the tag writer 38 and the tag reader 39 can be arranged at appropriate positions other than the positions of the above-described embodiments. For example, a tag writer 38 may be provided in front of the registration roller 9. In this case, the order of the processes of S24 and S25 can be changed, and printing can be executed after the data is written to the tag 3a. Furthermore, when performing printing in S24, a known copy prevention process may be applied to the surface of the paper 3. In this case, if the data is not extracted from the tag 3a and an attempt is made to directly copy it with a copying machine or the like, a good copy cannot be obtained. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied not only to a laser printer but also to various image forming apparatuses such as a facsimile machine, a copier, an ink jet printer, and a dot impact printer. Further, the tag 3 a may be attached to the paper 3 by bonding with an adhesive, or may be inserted into the paper 3. Further, the tag 3a may be provided on the printing surface side of the paper 3, or may be provided on the back side.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a printer to which the present invention is applied. It is a perspective view showing the appearance of the printer. FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating the configuration of paper used in the printer. It is a block diagram showing the structure of the control system of the printer. It is a flowchart showing the process performed by the personal computer side of the said control system. It is explanatory drawing showing the example of a screen display at the time of the document preparation with the personal computer. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the font information table produced with the personal computer. It is a flowchart showing the font information extraction process among the said processes. It is a flowchart showing the process performed by the printer side of the said control system. It is a flowchart showing the other process performed by the printer side of the said control system. It is explanatory drawing showing the example of a screen display by the printer side in the process.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer 3 ... Paper 3a ... RFID tag 6 ... Main body paper feed tray 12 ... Main body paper feed roller 17 ... Scanner unit 18 ... Process unit 19 ... Fixing device 23 ... Photoconductor drum 24 ... Developing cartridge 25 ... Transfer roller 38 ... Tag writer DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 39 ... Tag reader 46 ... Additional paper feed tray 52 ... Additional paper feed roller 70 ... Personal computer 75 ... Operation part 76 ... Display part 90 ... Operation key 91 ... Display panel 93 ... Image formation part

Claims (9)

Reading means for reading data from a non-contact tag provided on a recording medium;
Printing means for printing on a recording medium;
An image forming apparatus comprising:
When the character data representing characters printed on the recording medium provided with the non-contact type tag and the font data representing the font of the character are written in the non-contact type tag, the printing means An image forming apparatus that performs printing based on the character data and the font data read by the reading unit. A password input means for a user to input a password;
In addition to the character data and the font data, password data representing a password is written in the contactless tag.
The reading means reads the password data together with the character data and the font data,
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing unit performs the printing when a password corresponding to the password data read by the reading unit is input via the password input unit. . Writing means for writing data to a non-contact tag provided on the recording medium;
Printing means for printing on a recording medium provided with a non-contact type tag;
An image forming apparatus comprising:
The printing means performs the printing based on character data representing a character to be printed on a recording medium and font data representing a font of the character,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the writing unit writes the character data and the font data to a non-contact type tag provided on a recording medium on which the printing is performed by the printing unit. A printing system comprising: the image forming apparatus according to claim 3; and an external device provided so that data can be transmitted toward the image forming apparatus.
The external device includes transmission means for transmitting the character data and the font data to the image forming apparatus.
A printing system characterized by comprising. The external device has a password input means for the user to input a password,
In addition, when a password is input by the password input means,
The transmission means transmits password data representing the password together with the character data and the font data,
5. The printing system according to claim 4, wherein the writing means writes the password data together with the character data and the font data into the contactless tag. A reading process for reading data from a non-contact tag provided on a recording medium;
A printing process for printing on a recording medium;
An image forming method comprising:
When character data representing characters printed on a recording medium provided with the non-contact type tag and font data representing the font of the character are written in the non-contact type tag, An image forming method characterized in that printing is performed based on the character data and the font data read in the reading process. A writing process for writing data to a contactless tag provided on a recording medium;
A printing process for printing on a recording medium provided with a non-contact type tag;
An image forming method comprising:
In the printing process, the printing is performed based on the character data representing the character to be printed on the recording medium and the font data representing the font of the character,
In the writing process, the character data and the font data are written in a non-contact type tag provided on a recording medium on which the printing is performed by the printing process. A recording medium on which characters are printed,
The non-contact type tag in which the character data representing the printed character and the font data representing the font of the character are written,
A recording medium provided with the recording medium.   9. The recording medium according to claim 8, wherein password data representing a password is written to the non-contact tag together with the character data and the font data.